Are physicists respected?

I am asking purely out of interest. Are there any physicists who could talk about their experience? If you state that youre quantum physicist do they go "wow" or do they just take it as something usual (or do they sometimes not understand what the hell are you talking about)? :)

1. Wow, you must be smart.
2. Wow, that's sort of unusual for a girl.:uhh:
3. I've never met a physicist before.
4. Cool, what do you study?
5. Hmmm, you look like a physicist.
6. Oh, what hospital do you work at?

I've heard jokes about jobless theoretical particle physicists, and personally know at least one. I'm not convinced theoretical physicists are respected always, at least in a sense that they would be getting employed easily. Physicists leaning more towards experimental stuff are probably considered more useful?

Whether people admit to being impressed or not, notice how many times folks will say "It's not rocket science..." or "It doesn't take a degree in physics to figure out..." or "Now I don't have a degree in physics, but..."

The popular mindset is that physicists are smart. You do not stumble into a degree in physics.

Funny thing: when I say I am a high school teacher, and they ask "What do you teach?" and I say "Physics," you should see their reaction: most people get a rush of memory about physics in high school (mostly not good). I hear a lot of "that was a tough class," or "That was the only class I didn't get an A in."

Often I get a physical response (shudders or puking sounds). A few time, when the other guy remains calm and comfortable and starts talking about softball and volleyball, I realize that the guy heard "Phys Ed" instead. When I correct that situation, the follow-up question is usually "is that a science?" or "I never took that."

When I was studying physics, I became reluctant to mention my major. If someone asked, I would tell them "astro and nuclear physics", and then I switch to nuclear engineering. The moment one says nuclear, physics or quantum . . . the most common response from other students "Oooh, you must be smart" or something very similar. Some might mention Einstein, or relativity, or atomic bombs, and some would start asking about nuclear weapons, or fusion, or some other current event related to nuclear energy.

The moment one says nuclear, physics or quantum . . . the most common response from other students "Oooh, you must be smart" or something very similar. Some might mention Einstein, or relativity, or atomic bombs, and some would start asking about nuclear weapons, or fusion, or some other current event related to nuclear energy.

I get the "you must be smart" thing, too. How do you reply to that? If you say "no", it's insulting to them. If you say "yeah", it's arrogant. I just keep my mouth shut...

Usually I smile and say "but I think there are a lot of people out there much smarter than me!"

One time I was at a bar during an open mic with some physics friends. After I played my set I was standing at the bar chatting with my pals and a guy came over and complimented my performance. He offered to buy me a beer and I agreed (he was kinda cute and he wasn't inebriated). Anyways, the conversation got around to "what do you study?"... and when I replied the guy responded "oh, you must be smart... umm, I'm gonna get back to my table now." So he ran off and left me to pay for the beer he'd ordered for me. I was totally crushed until I turned around and saw my friends laughing hysterically - and then I realised how funny the incident was.

Oh, it's great to read these posts!! I think I've had every response here!

Like Astro, I'm very reluctant to tell people I was a physics major, at least in social situations. Maybe because I'm female, it stops conversations cold. Or people start appologizing for how bad they did in high school algebra.

As far as respect, yes I'd say having a physics education is held in high regard.

One time I was at a bar during an open mic with some physics friends. After I played my set I was standing at the bar chatting with my pals and a guy came over and complimented my performance. He offered to buy me a beer and I agreed (he was kinda cute and he wasn't inebriated). Anyways, the conversation got around to "what do you study?"... and when I replied the guy responded "oh, you must be smart... umm, I'm gonna get back to my table now." So he ran off and left me to pay for the beer he'd ordered for me. I was totally crushed until I turned around and saw my friends laughing hysterically - and then I realised how funny the incident was.

Seriously?! What's with that guy? If I was at a bar and found a girl who agreed to let me buy her a drink, AND THEN she said she was a physicist!...:!!) That may just be me though...

Well, I think it's kind of shallow to respect or disrespect someone based on their profession alone.

I study physics (near graduating with a Bachelor's)

I was actually having a discussion with a creationist last night. Interestingly enough, he's a very intelligent creationist. He has a decent understanding of genetics, cell biology, differential equations, and the obvious laymen quantum mechanics stuff. He played "What the Bleep do we know: Down the rabbit hole" We don't get through the whole thing, the discussion/argument erupted about a half hour in.

Basically, my problem was that his arguments, and this video he was watching mis-characterized scientists as these cold, calculating people that have some agreed upon version of where the world come from. I told him "It's not like that... scientists each have their own niche... things they're interested in, they don't get together and conspire about the meaning of the world... they're not trying to prove some ultimate meaning; that's what you're doing right now, trying to tie all these little facts into some big point."

Anyway... the point was that it seemed like he respected scientists in some manner and he was completely willing to listen to my arguments and oddly enough we agreed on a lot of the finer points. I still felt it was somewhat disrespectful to go about spreading rumors that scientists all think they know exactly how the world works and where it came from and its purpose, and I let him know that.